On The Banks Of The Old Pontchartrain

Rose Maddox  -  On The Banks Of The Old Pontchartrain

Rose Maddox dips into the Hank Williams songbook and emerges with a winner.

Heartaches By The Gallon?

Sally Let Your Bangs Hang Down

 Rose Maddox - Sally Let Your Bangs Hang Down

Sally Let Your Bangs Hand Down appeared on Rose Maddox's 1960 Capitol LP, The One Rose, one of her earliest efforts at striking out on her own after the demise of the Maddox Brothers & Rose.

Why Don't You Haul Off And Love Me

Rose Maddox  -  Why Don't You Haul Off And Love Me

Plastic Eyeball Debut

 

Via the JET magazine archives, here's the photo run by the mag to let everyone know about Sammy Davis Jr's new eyeball in June, 1955.  For the search engines:

"Sammy Davis Jr. Doffs Eyepatch: Removing his now-famous eye patch for the opening performance at Las Vegas' New Frontier Hotel, entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. unveils his new plastic left eye for the scrutiny of his uncle, Will Mastin.  Sammy lost his eye in California auto crash."  

Step Right In - Rose Maddox

Here are a couple of tough honky-tonk numbers Rose Maddox released in 1967.  Somehow, neither side charted, but they're well-worth checking out.

Rose Maddox  -  Step Right In  (2:25)

Rose Maddox  -  Through The Bottom Of The Glass  (2:27)

Honky Tonkin'

Rose Maddox  -  Honky Tonkin'

The Hot Rod Jordanaires

 
Jordanaires  -  Malibu Run  (2:04)

Recently, while scrounging for 45s out in the Atlanta suburbs I found this mystifying head-scratcher by the Jordanaires.  Who would've figured these tame but talented background vocalists for Rip Chords wannabes with a passion for hot rod sounds?  Certainly not I.  And how about the fact that this extraordinarily unlikely disc was produced by Don Law and Frank Jones, Columbia's in-house go-to guys for classic Nashville country sounds by people like Ray Price, Carl Butler and Pearl, Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Lefty Frizzell and others.  And I have no idea who author R. Wilkins is but I wonder if he's somehow related to Bucky Wilkin (no "s" at the end) who wrote and recorded a substantial body of hot rod work in Nashville as a member of Ronny & The Daytonas. 

The Guitar Sheik

Get a load of this fantastic 1955 photo borrowed from the pages of Jet magazine.  Bobby Walker, in full sheik regalia, strolls the streets of Philadelphia serenading the lucky citizens with his guitar.  Photo by Gaston DeVigne.

She's The Girl On The Billboard...

Joyce Paul  -  I'm The Girl On The Billboard

Here's the answer song to the record posted by Debbie yesterday.

Louis Jordan For President!

It's only 2013 and I'm already tired of hearing about the next Presidential election.  Now if Louis Jordan were in the race, things might be different.  Via the fantastic JET archives.

Louis Armstrong

Happy birthday to Louis Armstrong, born 112 years ago today (08/04/1901) in the world's most musical city, New Orleans.  In 1961, he worked with another musical genius, Duke Ellington, on the soundtrack for the film Paris Blues, which featured Sidney Poitier, Paul Newman, Diahann Carroll and Joanne Woodward.  In addition to his soundtrack contributions, Armstrong appeared in the movie, playing a character, a trumpet player naturally, called Wild Man Moore.  Here's the song by that name from the soundtrack.

Duke Ellington featuring Louis Armstrong  -  Wild Man Moore


Photo: the Jet magazine archives.

Mondo Topless Radio Extravaganza

Thanks to my pal Phil for sending along these fantastic screen captures of radio shots from Russ Meyer's Mondo Topless. 

Wine Me Up

Jerry Lee Lewis  -  Wine Me Up 

Howlin' Wolf

Today Howlin' Wolf, were he still among us, would be celebrating his 113th birthday (h/t John Funke).  Via the pages of the March 1972 issue of Ebony magazine, here's a glimpse of his home turf club in Chicago's "West Side ghetto."  The Blue Flame Lounge (aka Duke's Show Place) even incorporated Howlin' Wolf into their incredible sign.  It's a little tough to read but right next to the wolf, it says "HOME OF THE HOWLING WOLF."  I like it.

Duane Eddy Steps Up To The Mic...And Sings?

Duane Eddy  -  Guitar Star

I don't know how many records Duane Eddy sang on, but here's the only one I have, the fantastic Guitar Star.  I've always imagined (okay, fantasized) that if the Untamed Youth got back into the studio to record another album, that this would be a can't-miss candidate for inclusion.  Just imagine Mace huffing out the all the grumpy old guy lines like "Gee, I wish someone would take his guitar away!" I swear they'd sell at least a couple hundred copies!

How 'Bout Some Ribs, Pretty Lady?

Bluesman Jimmy Rushing wasn't hogging the ribs.  As you can see from this 1955 JET photo, he was perfectly willy to share with exotic dancer Chinky Grimes.  Chinky, incidentally, was married to R&B guitarist and bandleader Tiny Grimes.

Live Like A King...

...The King of Western Swing, that is.

You can do so by purchasing Bob Wills' Fresno home, known back then as the Triple-B Ranch - named for Bob, his wife Betty, and their son Bob Jr.  The somewhat derelict house stands about 10 miles NE of downtown Fresno and it turns out a developer would really like to tear it down to build a subdivision of shiny new houses.  Local preservationists, however, are doing their best to save it and that's where you come in.  The developer has agreed to sell the house for $1, provided you move it and pay for all the associated expenses.  Google map

This is the house, by the way, where Wills resided during the time he and his Texas Playboys recorded the fabled Tiffany Transcriptions in San Francisco, one of the band's many artistic high water marks.  These were basically live recording sessions that were distributed to various radio stations for syndication purposes.

Two Pizzaburgers Please!

Joe Houston & a Half Ton Of Glamor, Jet Magazine, 1955.

Joe Houston  -  Two Pizzaburgers Please

Super Heavy Blues Express

Forty-two years ago today in downtown Atlanta, the Super Heavy Blues Express came to town.  And what a truly astonishing line-up -  Big Mama Thornton, John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker, Big Joe Turner, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson and Al Hibbler, with Jelly Roll as an added attraction.

Via the pages of Atlanta's radical underground newspaper The Great Speckled Bird and the Georgia State University Library Archives.